Fixing to Help

08/31/2026

Several years ago, a local shelter offered very low-cost euthanasia on certain days. That ended. Plus, emergencies didn't fit neatly into a clinic's posted schedule.

We have cried so many times with bereft callers that we've lost count.

Their precious dying pet had endured agony or intense distress for days. The owners felt broken and helpless. And we couldn't help them.

There are wonderful compassionate euthanasia services available locally. But for someone barely making it from check to check, the cost of euthanasia is out of reach.

How do we change that while being fair to owners and veterinarians?

Imagine it is 11:00 at night.

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻. 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲. Maybe you have spent the last hour watching an animal you love get worse and worse.

And you know.
You know this is the end.
You are not asking anyone to save them.

❌You are not asking for expensive diagnostics.
❌No surgery.
❌No hospitalization.
❌No heroic measures.

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴:
𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 💔.

So you pick them up, wrap them in a blanket, carry them into an emergency veterinary hospital and 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚.

And then you find out that a peaceful death may cost you $300.

😪$400.
😪$500.
😪Maybe nearly $700.
And THAT is what pi**es us off.

‼️We understand emergency veterinary medicine is expensive.

Hospitals have overhead. Veterinarians and technicians deserve to be paid well for their knowledge, skill and time. Medications cost money. Staffing a hospital overnight costs money.

𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚.

But humane euthanasia should not be where we squeeze every possible dollar out of a devastated person standing there with a suffering animal in their arms.

Because what exactly do we think happens when that person doesn't have $400 or $500 or $700?

They don't magically find the money.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿.

And 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨, knowing exactly what their animal needs and knowing they cannot afford to give it to them.

Think about that.

💔Not being unable to afford chemotherapy.
💔Not being unable to afford a complicated surgery.
💔Being unable to afford to stop suffering.

And then the animal welfare world turns around and asks:

“Why did they let that animal suffer?”

😔Maybe they didn't let anything happen.
😔Maybe they begged someone to help them.
😔Maybe the price of mercy was more than their electric bill.

More than their grocery budget.
𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸'𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸.

Charge appropriately for emergency exams, diagnostics, hospitalization, surgery, medications and specialized treatment.

Absolutely.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱, 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗠𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗹𝘂𝘅𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲?

There needs to be an affordable, bare-bones option for the person who walks into an emergency hospital holding an animal they love and says:

“I know I can't save them. I just don't want them to hurt anymore.”

That person does not need a package.

They do not need bells and whistles.

They do not need to be made to feel like the amount of money available on their credit card determines how much they love their animal.

They need mercy.

Nobody should have to choose between spending hundreds of dollars they do not have and taking their animal home to suffer through the night.

And we cannot keep preaching responsible pet ownership and humane treatment while pricing people out of the most basic humane option available at the end of an animal's life.

We tell people not to let animals suffer.

We tell them that sometimes euthanasia is the kindest final decision they can make.

Then, when they finally make that heartbreaking decision, we cannot put mercy behind a paywall they may not be able to cross.

𝗔 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝘂𝘅𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱.

‼️Attention: We appreciate our work being shared! 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞.

08/31/2026

Anything from Pampered Chef is special. Order a gift for the cook in your home or for someone you'd like to treat.

You'll be supporting a spay or neuter for a beloved family pet whose family needs a little help with the cost. Here's the link:

https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/fixingtohelp0814

Thank you, everyone! 🩷💜💙

08/31/2026

The city of Syracuse is looking for applicants for the position of supervisor for their dog shelter. Details are in the post.

The Animal Service Supervisor is responsible for supervising the City of Syracuse dog shelter.

08/30/2026

Thank you to the Syracuse Fire Department! Their fast work allowed all to return to the home with no reported injuries ❤️.

Crews rescued cats and birds from the home on the city's North Side.

08/29/2026

Monday, 6 p.m.! And then it's over!!!!

Be sure to order that pampering gift that will make your life or someone special's life more fun/easy/colorful/tasty/pick-your-own-word!

Link to Fixing to Help's Pampered Chef fundraiser:
https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/fixingtohelp0814

Thank you to all who ordered or shared. Some perfect family cats and dogs will love you for it. We already do!

08/29/2026

The No-Kill movement has been increasingly under fire for the past couple of years.

A recurring concern is that more and more no-kill shelters focus on their live release rate. They use it to strengthen their fund-raising and their appearance of success.

Meanwhile, some components of the early no-kill movement appear to have dropped by the wayside as the movement grew.

Less and less effort and funding have gone into hitting the increasing problem of stray dogs and feral cats -- and particularly into expanding low-cost, easily accessible spay and neuter.

As Lisa Lange once said, "It’s a lot easier to raise money on Save Them All than Spay Them All."

A significant unknown is what happens to the pets that no-kill shelters refuse to take in. Their outcomes are not tracked. Consider the stray dogs that CNY shelters are not accepting. What is their fate and that of the good Samaritans who found them but cannot keep them?

This post lays out some of the current thinking about no-kill. What are your thoughts?

WE’RE CALLING THE “NO-KILL” MOVEMENT’S BLUFF.

We cannot tell you how many messages we get that say:

💬 “𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖 𝙣𝙤-𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙧?”
💬“𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙣𝙤-𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙧?”
💬“𝙊𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙨𝙝, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙚𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙!”

Somewhere along the way, people started believing “no-kill” automatically means compassionate, while euthanasia automatically means cruel.

𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲.

A shelter can protect its “no-kill” status by limiting intake and saying no when it is full.

An open-admission shelter doesn’t have that luxury.

✅They get the sick cat.
✅The injured dog.
✅The unwanted litter.
✅The animal dumped at the door because somebody decided it was no longer convenient.

𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱.

That’s not an honest comparison.

❌And simply keeping an animal alive is not automatically humane.

𝗔𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲.

An animal can also leave alive and later be neglected, bred, chained, dumped, returned or passed from home to home.

None of that shows up in the shiny “no-kill” statistic.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Now, let’s be very clear:
When a healthy, adoptable animal is euthanized simply because there is nowhere for it to go, that is heartbreaking.

It 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙪𝙨.

But our outrage needs to travel a little farther upstream.

That animal didn’t appear in an overcrowded shelter because shelter staff woke up one morning and decided they needed more animals to euthanize.

It got there because somewhere along the way:
❌Someone didn’t spay or neuter.
❌Someone allowed another litter to be born.
❌Someone dumped an animal.
❌Someone treated a living thing as disposable.

And collectively, we keep expecting shelters and rescues to somehow absorb an endless supply of animals without an endless supply of adopters, fosters, funding, kennel space and human beings to care for them.

The shelter didn’t create the crisis. It was left holding the consequences.

We work primarily with free-roaming cats and we volunteer closely enough with our local shelter to see what happens when prevention is ignored and the shelter is expected to clean up afterward.

‼️You cannot rescue your way out of unchecked breeding.

‼️You cannot adopt your way out of it.

‼️And 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.

Of course we want animals leaving shelters alive.

But “alive” should be the 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 of the standard not the entirety of it.

Instead of obsessing over whether a shelter has a “no-kill” label, we need to ask the question that actually matters:

What are we, as a community, doing to stop creating more animals than our community can responsibly care for?

𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 “𝗻𝗼-𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹” 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰.

𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻.
𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲.
𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿.

We can keep arguing over which shelter has the prettier percentage.

👏🏼OR we can spay and neuter our animals, support affordable access to those services, foster, adopt responsibly, stop dumping animals and start addressing the problem before an animal ever reaches a shelter door.

That may not fit neatly on a bumper sticker.
But it would save a hell of a lot more lives.

‼️Attention: We appreciate our work being shared! 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞.

08/28/2026

🌾 🧡 🍁

08/28/2026

Please don't let time run out on you.

You have until August 31 to order up some awesome gifts for people you love (and for yourself, too).

And it's triple gifting!

Gift 1️⃣ is the treasure you'll be giving someone special - and include yourself in that group, please, because we do!

Gift 2️⃣ is the spay or neuter your purchase will sponsor. That's right, a portion of your order will go to a spay/neuter appointment for a deserving family pet whose family doesn't have the funds to provide it themselves, as much as they wish they could.

Gift 3️⃣ sends extra funds from Pampered Chef to Fixing to Help because they're doubling their donation from your purchase!

Please order today! Time's flying...
https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/fixingtohelp0814

Fixing to Help promotes pet wellness and safety. We have sponsored more than 3,700 spays and neuters of cherished pets belonging to residents of Onondaga County with verifiable low incomes. They and their families thank you for your support. 💞

08/26/2026

Yikes! Time's running out! 🙀

The last day to order from our Pampered Chef fundraiser is August 31st!

If there's something special you've been meaning to get for your kitchen pleasure or for someone on your now-or-later gift list, take a look at all the goodies Pampered Chef has to offer!
👉 https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/fixingtohelp0814

Order online and your treasure will be delivered to you in lickety split time. Part of the proceeds from every order will be donated to Fixing to Help. And Pampered Chef is doubling the donations!

That means more spays and neuters for the wonderful, silly, lovable, curious, furry family members of folks here in Onondaga County who'd order up a spay or neuter in a heartbeat if their budgets allowed.

Our Fixing to Help pet parents have verifiable low incomes that don't leave room for a spay or neuter. Your thoughtful order will serve up better health to family pets, smiles of relief to their owners, and some kitchen-y delight to you!
🥰 https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/fixingtohelp0814

Thank you to all who have ordered already. And to all who share this post with a friend who might keep forgetting to pick up that special item they've been wanting. Now's the chance!!!
https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/fixingtohelp0814